Category: Poshmark Tips & Tricks

Poshmark Ambassador II & New Search Functions

A small note: My mission has always been to empower and inform sellers so that everyone stands a fighting chance to have a successful small business. I share information freely and not for profit.

That being said, please do not steal my content. This is my intellectual property. If you want to share any of it outside this post please – just ask. Chances are I’ll be more than happy to share, all I ask is you give me credit and let me know. I really appreciate it. Back to regularly scheduled programming.

We received a lot of wonderful information from Poshmark regarding the changes since February but some are asking me, “Now what? How do we operate under these new changes?” Today, I’ll talk about the new search, how SEO has been affected and how Ambassador II fits into the picture.

Poshmark has done two major things since February:
1) Added new parameters to search, including simple search
2) Rolled-out Ambassador II

As a reminder, SEO is irrelevant WITHIN the Posh platform in the context of using true SEO, which optimizes listings for outside search engines and brings traffic for search engine sales such as Google. After all, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and is what we use to get ranked and get views on the Web. Using SEO + normal listing increases sales since you’re adding the element of guest buyers and hits to your closet from Web searches.

Posh has rewarding behaviors programmed into the platform, mostly related to listing, sharing and following. This has not changed. You should continue to list, follow and share as you always have. As with the original Ambassador program, Posh algorithms reward your closet activity by sending targeted users to your closet except now the Ambassador II closets are gaining even more “rewards,” notably enhanced traffic being driven to your closet. Per Nyzelle, the Ambassador II program is supposed to hustle for you; it will drive more traffic, more followers, more visibility so sales can be brought to our doorsteps and prevent us from being required to work so hard. More about the rewards system here.

Make sure you aren’t confusing the two new features(or other regards to sales slowing down) because they’re separate, they just happen to have been rolled out at the same time. The simple search functions within the platform are somewhat hurting the closets who have spent time on SEO’ing their closets. When we have very descriptive titles, sometimes it’s too descriptive and may miss a user who is simply looking for a “blue top.”

In order to combat the search function simplicity, it’s an extremely easy change. Listing titles should change from:


Louis Vuitton Petit Métis MM White Leather Satchel


To:
Louis Vuitton Leather Bag Satchel White Petit Métis MM

By simplifying the first few keywords it will satisfy the new search function and you’ll still have an SEO’d listing because you kept the main keywords needed for outside searches. If a user is searching for “blue top” on Poshmark it will return the listings that have the phrase “blue top”. It also looks for listings that are Just Shared and Relevant (two more filter factors that have been applied to Poshmark’s search features). This means that SEO’d titles will still work as well as they used to and we have the added benefit of having our listings show up for the user if “blue top” is found in your listing.

This brings up a really important point. I know what you’re thinking… You’re thinking, “OK! I’ll just put a lot of keywords and phrases in my listing description and I’m good!”

Nope.

That is called “keyword stuffing”. We’ve all seen the closets who put a huge paragraph of keywords at the bottom of their listings in the hopes they will cast a wider net, but this is actually counter-productive and kills the visibility of your listing. Posh specified that they are looking into putting in controls to deprioritize listings that do this, and search engines absolutely penalize listings that do this. Google (and other engines) have a lot of coding in place to fight spam – and keyword stuffing is spam. If there are tons of keywords in your listing, Google will actually de-rank your listing which hoses SEO.

If we’ve learned nothing else by being sellers on this platform it’s that we have to adapt with changes. This isn’t a change that’s going to kill your closet. In fact, it’s going to help you out a whole lot in the long run. Just remember, we are currently in the rebound period for Ambassador II. With the OG Ambassador program it took 3-6 months to see a full rebound in closet activity and PA2 is seemingly following the same trend. Poshmark is investigating these trends and will improve upon them if they can.

What does this all mean? Keep calm and carry on. I know your sales are suffering right now. So are everyone else’s. Poshmark is not in the business of losing money. If our sales are suffering so are Poshmark‘s. All we can do at this point in time is operate from past history, use the lessons we’ve learned over the years, and make smart, informed decisions. If there continues to be a large dip in sales, it’s a safe bet that Poshmark will course correct.

Just breathe!

XOXO,

Poshmark_Paige

0

Poshmark Rolls Out New Bulk Features

I’ve been thinking a lot about the new bulk features Poshmark has rolled out to most users. This is a real game-changer for everyone. The normal activity of sharing your closet seems a little lost now that the feed is flooded with listings from people bulk sharing their closets, doesn’t it? People are reporting slower sales, which normally happens in the summer months, but this year, it feels a lot slower all around. There are ways to combat the summer slow-down. With this new roll-out we have to strategize what we do on a day to day basis.

First, let’s review the changes:

If you look at the top of your closet you’ll see a gear/tool icon:

The bulk sharing feature is here:

To bulk share, select the listings, then click on “Share to Followers”:

Poshmark will start sharing from the bottom items up, retaining your closet order.

Sounds great, right? It really is and it combats the bots (huge!), however it does create a new problem: an insanely flooded, fast-moving sharing feed. What does this mean for us? TIME TO USE STRATEGY. It’s time to go back to some fundamentals that we know work:

1) SEO

I’ve been spending the last two weeks testing my theory. I already have SEO in my closet, and I’m still seeing the same amount of guest buyers so this hasn’t changed in the slightest and still remains the most important activity we can do! Some have pointed out that this is old info from a few years back. Yes, yes it is, but guess what? Everything on this blog is still relevant! Search engine optimization remains the gold standard for closet strategy, so if you haven’t implemented this into your listings, now is the time to do it.

2) Following

Many people don’t believe that following others makes a difference. Let me tell you – it does! I stopped following for about a month just to see what would happen. I wanted to test the theory. My closet came to a screeching halt, especially with these new features. It felt like someone had tied cement blocks to my closet and dropped it to the bottom of the ocean. Four days ago I started following again. On the first day, within an hour, I received a high offer on an item. Within the next two hours I had a full-ask purchase and two more offers.

Want to know why? Visibility!

If you think about your News feed you can see when someone shares your item and you can see when someone follows you (but not all the noise from shares in the feed). This is the activity that is going to become key right now. I have been following ~1000 to 3000 users per day and my News feed has blown up with shares and follows. It feels to me like people are going back to the basic fundamentals of the News feed. They are responding more to the direct activity in their closet and less about what they are seeing in the sharing feed so we have to act in kind.

Want to help research? I’d really love it if some of my followers would help me test this activity! If you follow this blog and are so inclined, spend a few days and do what I have and report back in the comments. I’d love to hear your findings!

0

Need Help? Ask Me About SEO Services!

I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me for help, whether it’s simple questions or full closet consultations. As Poshmark becomes more and more competitive there’s a bigger need than ever for people to be at the top of their game and have A-Level closets and listings. I’ve decided to start offering paid services:

• SEO listings – I’ll log into your closet and edit your listings so you have the perfect SEO game. This will amplify sales as you’ll be hitting inside Posh and, especially, outside Posh. Hint: Google search- generated sales are almost always full asking price!

• Closet consultations – I’ll work with you and make recommendations for leveling-up your closet.

• Name your Service – If you have a need just ask and we’ll come up with a plan together.

No ask is too small. Contact me through the blog or on my Instagram @poshmark_paige. Looking forward to working with you!

0

How One Little Word, “Authentic”, Can Be a Game-Changer For The SEO Method & Poshmark

I’ve written a few times about the SEO Method and how to use keywords to drive sales to your Poshmark closet. A couple of months ago I was talking with some Poshers about SEO & keywords for the Luxury market and I had a giant “AH HA!” moment. These Poshers were talking about having higher-end items in their closets and how tough it can be to sell them, both because of the high price tags but also fighting against serial listing reporters, aka The Posh Police. Their authentic Louis Vuitton, Gucci (especially belts!!) and Chanel bags (and similar items) were being reported as not authentic and removed due to other Poshers reporting them. They were also talking about the struggle to get sales on items such as these when there are soooo many on Posh – both authentic and replicas (sadly) – because, let’s face it, for every authentic bag there are an exponentially higher number of replicas that aren’t being caught.

If you carry luxury items this is a battle you’re always going to have to fight, and there’s always going to be someone out there who is reporting Neverfulls and Boy Bags like a mad-Posher who, lets be honest, may not know as much as they think they do and are reporting authentic bags.

So, I sat back and thought about it for a minute… and realized that one little word can not only solve some listing problems, but also have the benefit of driving outside sales to your closet via the SEO Method!

💡 “Authentic”! 💡

Let’s say I’m someone who is on Google searching for a new-to-me (used) Neverfull. I sit down to search and type in “Louis Vuitton Neverfull”. I’m going to get hits from the LV website, naturally, and other high-end department stores. I’ll see some Poshmark or The Real Real in the shopping section, but as I scroll I’m also going to see sites selling replicas. There are a LOT of them out there and they’re not going away. By adding one little word, I’m narrowing my search, because most of those replica sites will never use the word “authentic”. These are fly-by-night pages who rank fast & high but that also don’t stick around long due to Google taking them down with their own algorithm Gods.

By searching “Louis Vuitton Authentic Neverfull” a whole new search engine world opens! It’s going to show more listing hits than junk – and if you’re the one selling that bag you want to be high-up in that search result (ranked)!

How do you do it? Add the keyword “authentic” to your Poshmark listing in the:

  1. Title,
  2. First ten words,
  3. Last ten words
  • That’s it! (If you don’t understand this please read the SEO Method post, learn how to SEO your listings and this will make sense.)
  • Also, remember to share your listing to Pinterest and Tumblr, and add Instagram for good measure if you’re active there. This gets your images out there which is the second most important piece to getting a high SEO ranking for your listing. Original images rank the best! If you’re dead set on using a stock image make sure it’s not the first one but remember that there are thousands of them out there already. Using them doesn’t help you stand out. (Again, I talk about these items in much more detail on the other SEO posts so go check them out!)

    • One other piece of advice that goes along with this – if you’re going to start revamping existing listings consider a fresh re-listing of the item altogether. This will accomplish a few things; you’ll:

    • Hit Fresh Closets
    • Hit Just In for that brand and be at the top
    • Make the algorithm Gods happy by getting rid of a stale listing
    • Have a listing that is starting outside search engine optimization ranking fresh & clean
  • Sure, it’s tough to lose likers if you have a lot of them but, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll realize that those buyers probably would have pulled the trigger a long time ago if they were really gonna. The benefits far outweigh the loss of some likers and you’ll gain a ton of new ones plus run a very high likelihood of getting a full-price sale from an online shopper new to Posh (isn’t that the BEST?!)!

    • The SEO Method continues to be one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal as sellers and by adding this one little tip, one little “Authentic” keyword, I am hoping Luxury Market sellers’ lives will become just a little bit easier and a whole lot more profitable!

    I will continue to improve the SEO Method as I learn more about Poshmark & keyword triggers but I think this new discovery is really going to be a Poshmark SEO social commerce game-changer!

    Happy Poshing, y’all!

    ♥️ Poshmark_Paige

    2

    Poshmark, VA’s & Bots: What to Know When Hiring a Closet Service

    We see them everywhere. VA’s tagging us on Insta. Website promising amazing closet bumps when using their services.

    If it sounds too good to be true – IT IS.

    Posh has started cracking down HARD on anyone using bots. Accounts are getting suspended (as in, entire closets wiped out) and they’re flagged as bot users and Posh is requiring them to sign an acknowledgement that they will never use a bot again. They’re getting one shot and Posh restores their closets, but if caught again, they will be banned permanently. It’s a start, but is like putting one of those teeny 1″ band aids on a slashed artery.

    A “bot” is an application that will share, follow, etc. for you and is purchased from someone else. They’re all over Instagram and they’re targeting the community promising amazing results and increased sales/exposure. They’re also *strictly prohibited* by Poshmark, but they are everywhere and the providers of these bots are growing exponentially every day.

    The problem with bots is that they are random programmers who do not work for Poshmark and they’re developing software that is hitting Posh’s network without any knowledge of how Poshmark is actually coded.

    That’s a BIG PROBLEM. Posh has to put resources into combatting this problem when it could be using them to create new features!

    Posh’s network is set up to accommodate PEOPLE, not bots. The bots overload the servers, eat up all the memory and processors (the engine behind Posh) and essentially wreak havoc. Posh works hard to recover, but that is not an easy process and people are NOT obeying the anti-bot mandates. From a programming standpoint, it’s pretty hard to identify a bot but there are ways (and to protect Posh, I’m not going to tell y’all how they would discover it because I don’t want to give anyone the tools they need to find a bot that would be hard to detect. Love y’all, but mama didn’t raise no fool. 😊).

    “So, what does this mean for me?” you ask.

    Make good decisions. Use your brain. If we’re being honest it’s unlikely a VA or service is actually making a significant amount of money without using a bot themselves. That is not to say there are some who are successful but if it’s a challenge for everyone else, it’s a challenge for them. There’s a reason why bots were built – because people don’t want to put in the work themselves.

    If you’ve hired VA’s (virtual assistants) make sure you’ve done your due diligence. These have been *widely* known to use bots, so if you don’t *really* know your VA or their methods you run the risk of getting your account restricted if they don’t follow the rules. Not to mention, if Posh sees you logging into your account in the US and you’ve hired a company outside the US you are opening yourself up to a whole host of problems and risk that Posh will flag/restrict your account.

    And if your entire closet suddenly disappears and you’ve been using a bot – this is why. Email Posh, fess-up (because they already know), delete the sucker and don’t do it again! 😊

    ADDITIONAL NOTE. Remember – a plug in is also a “bot”! The bots run as plug ins in your browser and act like you. You have to direct it places. Just because something isn’t labeled specifically for Poshmark doesn’t mean it doesn’t fall under the category as against Poshmark policy. Food for thought.

    0

    Poshmark Algorithms: The Do’s & Don’ts for a Successful Closet

    What do you do everyday to run your closet & how can you leverage the Poshmark algorithms to reward good behavior? I’ve talked about the algorithms before: it’s the heart of what runs Poshmark, the fun code that watches what everyone is doing and acts accordingly. I want to discuss all the actions that you can take in your closet and how the algorithms will see your activity as positive or negative. You might just be surprised at what can help or hurt you!

    First, a small explanation. When I talk about the algorithms I’m talking about the automated code that monitors everything that’s going on in PoshLand. It’s what will send you new followers as a Poshmark Ambassador, what sees people who are putting “PayPal” or “eBay” in their comments and popping up a message preventing it, what will find people who are putting email addresses in comments and flagging them as spam, and hundreds (thousands) of other things to which you may not even give a passing thought.

    Here’s the deal: Everything you do is monitored. It’s how Posh learns, operates and helps us run our closets, how they gather data for future enhancements, how they try to keep scammers (bots) off the platform. Poshmark is no different than any other software in this regard; they aaalllllll have these. But when we are talking about running a business on an e-commerce platform we have to figure out how to leverage them and make them work for and with us to keep us as successful as possible. Through recent conversations with some fellow Poshers I’ve realized that many don’t understand which everyday activities are the most important so I wanted to provide a list of both positive and negative activities and their benefits/consequences. What happens on Poshmark is different from any other site so it’s really important to know how to conduct daily business so you can be as optimized as possible.

    Positive Behavior

    • Following & Sharing – Clearly this is a #1 activity. Poshmark is networking! If you aren’t following and sharing other closets you can’t expect to be successful. Get out there and mingle! Visibility is everything.
    • Listing – Try to list as much as possible throughout the week. I know it’s tough, especially if you’re a part-timer, but getting fresh, new listings out there gives you a great boost. Also, re-list those stale listings that haven’t gone anywhere! Don’t worry about losing likers; if they were going to buy they would have done it six months and ten CCO’s ago. You’ll benefit much more from appearing in the Newly Listed category which provides you more visibility.
    • Welcoming new Poshers – Not only do the algorithms love this, it’s more visibility. Be willing to be a mentor, offer your help to a new Posher who needs it, but, for goodness sake, do NOT promote your own closet when doing so!
  • Good: “Hi! Welcome to Poshmark. I am a Posh Ambassador so if you ever have any questions feel free to reach out. Best of luck with your closet!” (and avoid the urge to paint it with emoji vomit…please.)
  • Bad: “Hi! Welcome to Poshmark! Come on over to my closet where I am always accepting offers and am having a 5 for $25 sale!” Instant. Turnoff/Bad. Form.
    • Buying stuff! Shop from your fellow Poshers! Not only do you support your community, the algorithms see the fact that you’re both buying and selling as a huge positive. If you don’t believe me, give this a little test. Spend a day doing some following and sharing and then buy something. See what happens in the next couple of days. You’ll see increased followers & a general increase in closet activity. And don’t forget to leave a Love Note!
    • Reviewing Reported Listings – Not everyone will receive this option, especially if you haven’t reached Ambassador status or aren’t a well-established closet, but, if you do, don’t ignore it. You don’t have to be an expert and know if everything is a replica or not, but you will be tested on what’s compliant and if people are breaking the rules. This is giving back to the Posh community and, again, algorithms love that. One thing to remember is, if you’re not sure, click “Not Sure”! The person on the other side of that listing is going to have a consequence (or not) based upon your answer. If you don’t know whether that Gucci belt is a replica then say so, but if someone is advertising for transactions off Poshmark and it’s reported as such then click “Yes”. If they haven’t broken any rules, click “No”.
    • Change-up your routine – If you have a regimented system where you’re doing all your following/listing/sharing from 9am – 2pm and then you don’t touch the app for the rest of the day this will definitely hurt you. The part of this that makes it a positive is, by changing-up your patterns, you will find un-tapped markets that you didn’t realize you’re missing. Depending upon your time zone you could be missing out on a TON of people! It’s not going to hurt you to have your daily routine, just don’t be afraid to try something new. Doing so will give you much more insight into where your buyers are. Also, get out there during the evening parties! This is a peak time on the app.
    • BE COMPLIANT! – For goodness sake, Poshmark is a fashion/home app. Do not try to sell DVD’s, toys, your TV… Make sure you read the Community Guidelines and know what’s complaint and not compliant.
    • Share to Social Media – I have spoken on this quite a bit on the SEO method and search engine posts but I want to reiterate how important this is. The more you’re out there the more visibility you have and the more likely you’re going to be picked up by a search engine. Plus, the algorithms love to know that you’re using those relationships that have been created between platforms. This is one item, however, that can move into a negative. If you’re sharing to Twitter it’s been proven that they’ll lock your Twitter account down for too many posts. Pinterest and Tumblr are fine, no known issues, and Instagram is great, although will require you to manually post since there’s no link yet. Do your research and know the platforms along with their limitations & regulations. (FYI, I plan to do a social media post soon. 😉)
    • Ship Time – No, Poshmark isn’t Amazon Prime and we do get seven days to ship, however, PMHQ has verified that the faster you ship, the happier the algorithm Gods are. Ideally, you should ship within 24-48 hours. Consistently letting items sit for 3 or more days will have a negative impact on your closet. Additionally, if your average is more than 2.5 days you will not be eligible for Ambassador status. Life happens sometimes so don’t stress if you have a late package here and there, just don’t let it be a practice. Procrastination is not your friend with shipping!
    • Responding to offers – This is activity. You’re engaging! You’re showing the algorithm that you’re willing to play ball.

    Negative Behavior

    • Blocking – There is a time and a place for blocking but excessive use of it will get you on the naughty list. If someone is harassing you, flag their comment as Harassment. If they are spamming you (“I have the same item in my closet for $20!”) flag their comment as Spam. If they are a scammer who is asking you to email them for an off-Posh transaction, again, mark their comment as Spam. In most cases, the app will remove their comments immediately. You don’t need to block them unless it is excessive and unrelenting. The algorithms are trolling for this behavior so let them do them work! There are a lot of Facebook groups that are dedicated to reporting people who scam and people are very quick to run out and block because sumbody dun sumbody wrong, but it’s really unnecessary unless you truly think that person is going to come find your closet amongst the millions of other closets.
    • Excessive Following/Sharing – I know, I know, this sounds crazy but it’s true! One of the biggest threats on Posh right now are the bots – the coded software that people buy/use to do the following and sharing for them instead of doing the work themselves. Because of the massive influx of bots, and Posh’s necessary action to combat them, the algorithms have to watch for activity that can be seen as “bot-like”. If you’re a super-fast follower/sharer and are getting the Captcha popping-up on you every few minutes, slow it down! Posh is going to think you’re a bot and it could throttle your closet (slow the incoming activity way down). There is a 10,000 follow/day limit on following. Kudos if you’re hitting this, but don’t do it all in one run and take breaks. Same for sharing. Change it up – share some, move to following, do some listing, go back to following, you get the idea. Focusing on any one activity for any significant length of time can significantly hurt you.
    • Straight-up Declining or Ignoring Offers – Lowballing sucks. We all know it. It’s annoying, but don’t take it personally! Someone is just trying to get a deal. If you receive an offer always counter, never decline. Ever! Don’t ignore offers either. Always counter. Build your listings so there is room for negotiation and, even if lowballed, counter. People do this to see where your bottom price is. It’s not personal; it’s business. It is data-proven (and confirmed by Poshmark) that declining offers has a negative impact. Don’t do it. Tee up!
    • Spamming Closets – I’ve touched on this in the welcoming new Poshers item but I want to reiterate: never, ever, ever go into someone’s active listing and promote your closet. People will report you and you will get throttled.
    • Canceling Orders – We’ve all done it. We have an item listed for a long time and it sells. We tear apart our death piles for two days trying to find it and it’s nowhere to be found. Don’t worry, it happens to everyone. In this instance, explain what happened in a very nice way, apologize profusely and cancel. However…if you are doing CCO and you dropped a price to $49 and BAM it sold! But you realize, OMG, I hit $29, not $49! Honor the sale. It was your mistake and the buyer should not be penalized for it. It’s poor customer service (and unethical) to cancel, and guess what? That buyer just got a smokin’ deal and will very likely come back to your closet.
    • Slow ship time – Consistent, slow shipping time is seen as a negative by the algorithm. Try to ship same day or next. Your closet will thank you!

    This list is not, by any means, complete. There are a lot of things you can do on a daily basis to help (or hurt) your closet. What it boils down to is using common sense, ethics and learning from your mistakes/successes. What I can tell you is that this list has been proven by people testing different methods, not just by me. There are communities of people out there who are dedicated to researching what is successful on Poshmark (such as the Poshmark Analytics group. Note: If you want to join we are happy to have you but you’ll need to do some learnin’ in the Analytics Sandbox first.). All of these activities have been talked about at PoshFest over the years and confirmed by Poshmark. If you always keep in mind both the Positive and Negative behaviors that the Poshmark algorithms recognize when doing daily activities you’ll be good to go!

    14

    Blog at WordPress.com.

    Up ↑